Not without work, but nice:
http://opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=65000252
http://opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=65000252
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Bush's sliver Bullet?
- Thread starter madison46
- Start date
Here is the article
JOHN FUND'S POLITICAL DIARY
Bush's Silver Bullet?
NRA membership is soaring, and this could be good news for the GOP.
Monday, September 11, 2000 12:01 a.m. EDT
WASHINGTON--The figure entering the Fox News green room on Capitol Hill was a little slower and a little grayer than I'd remembered from films, but the voice was unmistakable. Charlton Heston enjoys doing battle for his beliefs, and his voice conveys enthusiasm at being active in public life at age 76. This weekend he was in Washington to promote his new book, "The Courage to Be Free" and to chair a board meeting of the National Rifle Association.
"We've never before had a president personally attack on a regular basis an organization the way Mr. Clinton has with the NRA," Mr. Heston said in explaining why he has decided to stay on as NRA president. He says it shouldn't surprise anyone that the NRA has decided to return the Clinton-Gore administration's political fire. This month, the NRA passed the four million member mark, and the $15 million to $20 million it will spend in the fall elections will be double its expenditures in any previous year. In 1994, when the GOP took control of Congress the NRA had only 3.6 million members.
Perhaps that's one reason why both Al Gore and Joe Lieberman decided not to attack the NRA directly during the Democratic National Convention, and why Mr. Gore, who supports gun registration, in his acceptance speech called only for "mandatory background checks to keep guns away from criminals and mandatory child safety locks to protect our children." Two former Democratic congressmen who serve on the NRA's Board of Directors, Harold Volkmer of Missouri and Bill Brewster of Oklahoma, say they aren't surprised to see Mr. Gore recognize the political clout of the nation's hunters and gun owners. Mr. Volkmer says that Mr. Gore--who consistently supported gun rights during his 16-year congressional career--realizes that almost one in four House Democrats consistently oppose all attempts at federal gun control.
It's fashionable for national political reporters to demonize the NRA. But it's also true that few journalists have ever bothered to find out why so many Americans belong to such a controversial organization. Most NRA members look at the recent successful efforts of governments from Canada to Australia to limit gun ownership and are resolved to give no quarter when it comes to public policy in this country.
"What bothers many gun owners most is that their opponents seldom acknowledge any of the crimes that private gun owners prevent by being armed," says John Lott, a scholar whose research has found that crime rates have declined in the 31 states that allow citizens to easily carry concealed firearms. "It's not that tragic things aren't done with guns, it's that no one ever talks about the tragic things that never happened because a criminal was scared they would be shot."
It's a safe bet that whichever presidential candidate wins, one side in the gun-control debate will be emboldened. Should Mr. Gore win there is no doubt that the Justice Department would step up lawsuits against gun manufacturers. Should Mr. Bush win, it's certain there will be endless airings of the statement of NRA executive Keane Robertson that the group expects to have its lobbyists sitting close to the power circles of the White House. The election will be over in a few weeks, but the controversial role the NRA will have played in it will be debated for a long time to come.
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I too have read articles opining the NRA will be a major factor in the election. You can bet the family jewels that if the gun lobby was weak, Gore would be all over gun control like a dirty shirt. Instead, he is silent. Silent because gunners will cause him trouble. Also look for Bush to raise the gun rights issue if he gets into trouble. In any case, gunners are a force to be respected.
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Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.
Barry Goldwater--1964
JOHN FUND'S POLITICAL DIARY
Bush's Silver Bullet?
NRA membership is soaring, and this could be good news for the GOP.
Monday, September 11, 2000 12:01 a.m. EDT
WASHINGTON--The figure entering the Fox News green room on Capitol Hill was a little slower and a little grayer than I'd remembered from films, but the voice was unmistakable. Charlton Heston enjoys doing battle for his beliefs, and his voice conveys enthusiasm at being active in public life at age 76. This weekend he was in Washington to promote his new book, "The Courage to Be Free" and to chair a board meeting of the National Rifle Association.
"We've never before had a president personally attack on a regular basis an organization the way Mr. Clinton has with the NRA," Mr. Heston said in explaining why he has decided to stay on as NRA president. He says it shouldn't surprise anyone that the NRA has decided to return the Clinton-Gore administration's political fire. This month, the NRA passed the four million member mark, and the $15 million to $20 million it will spend in the fall elections will be double its expenditures in any previous year. In 1994, when the GOP took control of Congress the NRA had only 3.6 million members.
Perhaps that's one reason why both Al Gore and Joe Lieberman decided not to attack the NRA directly during the Democratic National Convention, and why Mr. Gore, who supports gun registration, in his acceptance speech called only for "mandatory background checks to keep guns away from criminals and mandatory child safety locks to protect our children." Two former Democratic congressmen who serve on the NRA's Board of Directors, Harold Volkmer of Missouri and Bill Brewster of Oklahoma, say they aren't surprised to see Mr. Gore recognize the political clout of the nation's hunters and gun owners. Mr. Volkmer says that Mr. Gore--who consistently supported gun rights during his 16-year congressional career--realizes that almost one in four House Democrats consistently oppose all attempts at federal gun control.
It's fashionable for national political reporters to demonize the NRA. But it's also true that few journalists have ever bothered to find out why so many Americans belong to such a controversial organization. Most NRA members look at the recent successful efforts of governments from Canada to Australia to limit gun ownership and are resolved to give no quarter when it comes to public policy in this country.
"What bothers many gun owners most is that their opponents seldom acknowledge any of the crimes that private gun owners prevent by being armed," says John Lott, a scholar whose research has found that crime rates have declined in the 31 states that allow citizens to easily carry concealed firearms. "It's not that tragic things aren't done with guns, it's that no one ever talks about the tragic things that never happened because a criminal was scared they would be shot."
It's a safe bet that whichever presidential candidate wins, one side in the gun-control debate will be emboldened. Should Mr. Gore win there is no doubt that the Justice Department would step up lawsuits against gun manufacturers. Should Mr. Bush win, it's certain there will be endless airings of the statement of NRA executive Keane Robertson that the group expects to have its lobbyists sitting close to the power circles of the White House. The election will be over in a few weeks, but the controversial role the NRA will have played in it will be debated for a long time to come.
-----------------------------
I too have read articles opining the NRA will be a major factor in the election. You can bet the family jewels that if the gun lobby was weak, Gore would be all over gun control like a dirty shirt. Instead, he is silent. Silent because gunners will cause him trouble. Also look for Bush to raise the gun rights issue if he gets into trouble. In any case, gunners are a force to be respected.
------------------
Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.
Barry Goldwater--1964